Standard Chartered to exit consumer, private and business banking in Tanzania

LONDON-Standard Chartered Bank is set to exit consumer, private and business banking in Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire and will instead focus solely on corporate, commercial and institutional banking.

In a statement posted on the Bank’s website, the banker is also set to permanently exit operations in seven markets in Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

“Today the group announces a set of actions to redirect resources within its Africa and the Middle East region to those areas where it can have the greatest scale and growth potential, in order to better support its clients,” StanChart said in a statement on Thursday.

The move follows its rival Barclays Plc, which sold most of its stake in its African operations starting in 2016 to reduce the risk and capital burden that came with majority ownership of the businesses.

The markets that are set to be exited generated around one per cent of total Group income in 2021 and a similar proportion of profit before tax.

The multinational’s presence in Africa will drop to 10 from the current 15 countries. It will continue operating in Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Mauritius, Uganda, Nigeria, Zambia, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt and Ghana.

The group said it will remain focused on serving its clients where it can make the most impact.

“The group will continue to serve corporate and institutional clients and facilitate cross-border capital flows and offshore business in all the above markets from its international network,” reads the statement.

Standard Chartered Group CEO, Bill Winters, said: “As we set out earlier in the year, we are sharpening our focus on the most significant opportunities for growth while also simplifying our business. 

"We remain excited by a number of opportunities we see in the Africa and Middle East (AME) region, as illustrated by our new markets, but remain disciplined in our assessment of where we can deliver significantly improved shareholder returns. 

"Collectively, our actions will position the AME franchise for the next phase of growth after a very strong 2021 performance. We are grateful to our colleagues and partners in each of these impacted markets for their hard work and dedication and are committed to supporting them through this transition,”reads the statement.